OpEd

EDITORIAL

Remembering Sept. 11, Honoring Lives Lost and Shaping the Future

“In order to understand our present and ensure our future, we must know our past.” (The meaning of Sankofa.)

As the nation pauses to reflect on the horrific events of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, otherwise known as 9/11, individual memories are focused on what one was doing on that dreadful day and time.

That morning life in America was, for the most part, proceeding as usual. Most Americans were headed to work or already seated at their desks, including school-aged children starting a new school year. Suddenly, the routine was disrupted when news spread that a U.S. airplane had slammed into one of the twin towers at the World Trade Center in New York. Within minutes, the second tower was hit, and then the Pentagon, and soon after, a fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania. Thousands of Americans were killed, including three D.C. Public School teachers and three students on their way to California to participate in an event sponsored by National Geographic.

Reports quickly circulated that hijackers were responsible. It wasn’t long before U.S. authorities identified these men and their country of origin. Nevertheless, it was an attack on America, and public outcry demanded revenge. While Americans sought their loved ones in the rubble caused by the crashes -- and to date, the bodies of hundreds of victims were never found -- American troops were called to war against a country believed to be the home of the enemy -- Afghanistan. Soon after, Iraq also became the target of the U.S. military and the allied forces.

Realizing the mounting number of U.S. casualties, along with the hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians also killed, U.S. officials moved beyond rhetoric to action. Twenty years later, President Joe Biden called for an end to the war and ordered U.S. troops home effective Aug. 31, 2021.

Much has changed in the U.S. since 9/11, especially related to homeland security. In many ways, we all are subjects of U.S. surveillance, but do we feel any safer? Many ask, “Was this war worth it.” And, where would we be today if Congress and President George Bush took heed to the warnings of Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Cal.), who cast the single vote against the Afghan war? She warned of its repercussions, and today, she has no regrets.

We will never forget 9/11 because of the lives lost on that day and after. More importantly, remembering the past must help us understand the present and ensure a better future. WI

Is the Growing Crisis at Howard University Indicative of Things to Come?

Just over a month ago, officials at Historically Black Colleges and Universities [HBCUs] celebrated after posting record-breaking enrollment numbers for the fall semester.

Several HBCUs in the Greater Washington Area, including Howard University, whose freshman class may be its largest in history, and Bowie State University, which reported an 8% increase, were overjoyed – particularly as many colleges in the U.S. have seen their numbers shrink dramatically during the pandemic.

But with the new semester less than a few weeks old, several problems have already occurred. For Howard’s students, the first challenge is finding housing. Officials say more upperclassmen, unable to pay the rising prices of apartments in the District, have chosen to remain on campus. These students are experiencing the dilemma that adults have faced for years – a lack of affordable housing in the District.

But the more serious problem with which Howard must now contend is the increase in COVID-19 infections on the campus – something which was probably inevitable.

With a record-number of students occupying the yard, reporting to classrooms and packing rooms in student housing facilities, chances are great that infection rates will keep going up.

Did officials have a contingency plan just in case? If so, we haven’t heard about it.

As for the faculty and staff at Howard, many of whom are either 65 or older or living with pre-existing health conditions, returning to campus might not be the best decision. And you can’t blame them for their growing anxiety.

Whether you support being vaccinated or not, as much as we would like to believe it, the truth remains that COVID-19 and emerging variants have not been eradicated.

Is the party over almost as soon as it began? And is the crisis that Howard University officials now face, one that is indicative of things to come for other colleges and universities?

We hope not. But it’s difficult to think otherwise. WI

Let’s Get Back to School

While I understand reservations about the COVID-19 virus in schools, I think most children should go to school. Virtual options should be for children with health conditions and who are at more risk of severe illness. In my opinion, children need in-person learning and socialization.

Rita Ladson Washington, D.C.

TO THE EDITOR

Sickle Cell Awareness

I didn't know that September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month and was glad to find that out from your paper. I have several family members who have suffered and continue to suffer with the disease. It’s truly hard to watch people you love in pain. Let’s continue to make our community aware and combat this together.

Mavis Tepin Washington, D.C.

Readers' Mailbox The Washington Informer welcomes letters to the editor about articles we publish or issues affecting the community. Write to: lsaxton@washingtoninformer. com or send to: 3117 Martin Luther King Jr Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. 20032. Please note that we are unable to publish letters that do not include a full name, address and phone number. We look forward to hearing from you.

Guest Columnist

David W. Marshall

Elijah McClain's Death Shows Us that Public Pressure Can Never End

The day that Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) announced a 32-count indictment in the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year Black man from Aurora, was a day that almost didn't happen.

In Aurora, two police officers, one former police officer and two paramedics will face charges in the death of McClain. The police officers and paramedics are charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Manslaughter is a Class 4 felony in Colorado punishable by up to six years in prison, while criminally negligent homicide is a Class 5 felony punishable by up to three years in prison.

On Aug. 24, 2019, nine months before George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, Elijah McClain was walking home from a convenience store listening to music on his headset when he was approached by an officer. From that moment, every part of the system to serve and protect failed. Though McClain committed no crime, he was immediately restrained. The officers eventually brought him to the ground, claiming he had reached for one of their guns while they were pinning him against a wall to handcuff him. The encounter escalated with McClain eventually losing consciousness as an officer applied a carotid control hold which restricts blood to the brain. And like George Floyd, he told police, "I can't breathe," as three officer held him while handcuffed on the ground.

The law enforcement system failed. An independent panel obtained by the City Council determined that police officers who stopped McClain had no apparent reason to suspect a crime had been committed. It also determined that a subsequent internal police investigation was flawed.

The emergency medical care system failed. When medical paramedics arrived, they injected McClain with ketamine, a powerful sedative. The amount of ketamine given was inappropriate and was for someone 77 pounds heavier than the 143-pound McClain. The indictment stated that the paramedics failed to follow medical protocols before and after they injected McClain. McClain was already handcuffed when medics arrived at the scene. The paramedics did not talk to McClain, check his vital signs or properly monitor him after giving him the powerful drug. McClain went into cardiac arrest and died a few days later.

The judicial system failed. The Adams County district attorney announced that criminal charges would not be filed, saying there was not enough evidence that the

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Guest Columnist

Marc H. Morial

Leaders Make Matters Worse By Playing Politics with Students' Health and Education

"We cannot return to the classroom and do things the same as they have always been done and expect to see a different outcome. Instead, we must use this critical moment in education to radically rethink how programs, policies, and opportunities are designed and fiercely commit to prioritizing the communities most impacted by the pandemic and distributing resources accordingly." — NWEA Center for School and Student Progress

Across the country, students are embarking on what is certain to be a third consecutive academic year that is compromised or disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While this is unfortunate for all students, it's especially dire for students of color and low-income students, who experienced the steepest setbacks as a result of interrupted instruction.

To make matters worse, students are being used as pawns by politicians more concerned with signifying partisan loyalty than with the health and education of public-school children. Twenty states have prohibited proof-of-vaccination requirements. At least eight states — Florida, Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, Iowa, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah — have imposed bans on school districts requiring masks. Florida and Arizona have gone so far as to threaten to withhold funding from districts that impose mask mandates.

As U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has pointed out, these policies represent discrimination against students who cannot attend school because of the risk to their health. The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is preparing to launch investigations in states block mask mandates — a move the National Urban League emphatically supports.

It's appropriate that Secretary Cardona recognizes pandemic-related educational disruption as a civil rights issue. As I testified earlier this year to the House Education and Labor Committee's Subcommittee on Early Childhood Elementary and Secondary Education, Black children are more likely than their White counterparts to lack the internet access

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Guest Columnist

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. Fixing NYC's Homelessness Crisis Is an American Priority

I congratulate New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams. He will be a strong new mayor of our nation's largest and most diverse city. Adams has promised to address homelessness in the city, a problem that has grown increasingly desperate as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cripple the economy and drive record numbers of individuals into bleak and unwelcoming shelters.

In May 2021, almost 52,000 New Yorkers — including 15,930 children — were sleeping in shelters, the highest rate of homelessness the city has experienced since the Great Depression. Worse still, homeless families are often forced to live in deplorable conditions, including shelters with mold and mildew, mouse and roach droppings, poor heating, bedbugs, asbestos and broken bathrooms.

This is not what Mayor Bill de Blasio had in mind when he brought new leadership into the city's Department of Homeless Services (DHS) in 2016 after ordering a comprehensive review of the homeless policies and of conditions at city shelters. As part of that overhaul, the mayor appointed Steven Banks to lead the DHS.

Banks, a veteran legal aid attorney who de Blasio had tapped in 2014 to be commissioner of the city's Human Resources Administration, was widely praised at the time as the right person to champion the city's most vulnerable citizens.

Now, Adams — who is all but guaranteed to be our next mayor — says that he is considering keeping Banks in his new administration to implement his bold vision for homeless services, including new facilities for those struggling with mental health challenges.

But that, in my opinion, would be a mistake. While Adams lauded Banks for his "fresh ideas" during a recent interview, Adams might want to take another look at the city's distressing experience managing its homeless population in recent years before reappointing Banks. After a litany of poor management decisions made during the pandemic, when New York's most vulnerable could least afford bureaucratic mistakes, it has become painfully obvious that it

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Guest Columnist

Ben Jealous

A Red Flag on the West Coast

In just a few days, California will wrap up its recall election targeting Gov. Gavin Newsom, a scheme orchestrated by a far-right still seething over the Big Lie. At first glance, that may seem like a problem that only affects California. But it's not, and the red flag being raised in the West deserves attention from all of us.

Thanks to an oddity of California law, voters could end up replacing Newsom with a candidate who wins only a fraction of the total vote. That's because there are more than 40 people on a list of folks vying to be that replacement, a list that by law does not include Newsom.

Whoever gets the most votes in the overcrowded field, wins, and for weeks now the leader has been Larry Elder, an ultraconservative talk show host whose extreme positions embrace racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, COVID-denying and anti-environment stances — among others.

Elder's ascendance is very troubling on a whole host of levels. That it was engineered at all in a progressive state like California shows the stop-at-nothing determination of a far-right enraged and emboldened by the Big Lie.

And Elder himself is a marquee example of the type of candidate that could soon be foisted on voters everywhere. He is more than just one person running for one office; he is the product of an unsavory stew of extremist factions liberated by Trump to do their worst.

One of Elder's biggest promoters is a radio host named Eric Metaxas, the host of a "Stop the Steal" rally where the Oath Keepers threatened civil war if Trump didn't stay in power after losing to Joe Biden. Another is a megachurch pastor named Jack Hibbs, who says Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris have "antichrist views."

Elder is a Black man who allies himself with white supremacists. He denies that systemic racism exists. He argued forcefully to the Los Angeles Times that he wants to "change the rhetoric about how bad the cops are."

According to the same Times article, he "shared a graphic with socalled facts depicting Black people as murderous," cherry-picking and skewing data to suggest Black people are disproportionately criminal. This is tragic.

From a national standpoint, Elder's election would certainly send a very dangerous message and encourage extremists. But

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Guest Columnist

Believe It!

Unquestionably, Maya Angelou's most famous quote is: "If someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time." Current events lead one to seriously question whether people are hearing the radical right and listening to where they are intent on taking the country. If we questioned the true meaning of the phrase "Make America Great Again," it should be clear to us now. For practical purposes, legal abortion is dead in the United States.

I've discussed ad nauseum the torrent of lies that issue from their mouths in the style of their orange leader, but among those lies rests the truth of their viciousness and evil. I have suggested before, and am now even more convinced, that the intent of Republican acolytes and the conservative base is to return the country to that point in time where women were subjugated to men and people of color knew their "place," whether force needs to be used for that purpose or not.

The most recent travesty is the adoption of Texas' new anti-abortion law and the Supreme Court turning a blind eye to its unconstitutionality. This law outlaws legal abortions after six weeks or when viability can be established with a fetal heartbeat. Few women even know they have become pregnant within a six-week window. Adding insult to injury, SCOTUS has refused injunctive relief for ap-

E. Faye Williams

peals and challenges.

This law has been labeled by progressive broadcasters as the most egregious anti-abortion law in history. I agree! Not only does it outlaw legal abortions after six weeks, but it also makes no exceptions for rape or incest. One can only imagine the distress of having to carry your rapist's child fullterm. Contrary to what most perceive, this would be a child conceived in violence and given birth with a measure of hate. "Legal standing" is a way of indicating that a person has an interest in the outcome of a situation or circumstance, or that a person can be injured — physically or emotionally — by the outcome of an action. This dystopian law gives legal standing to any citizen of the United States and allows her/him to bring a lawsuit against anyone who participated or assisted in an abortion process. Beyond any moral outrage, the person bringing the lawsuit also has a

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Askia-At-Large

Askia Muhammad 9/11 Until Now: White Americans Don't Want Peace

Even before the civil rights movement's leaders began complaining about this country's decisions, choosing "guns" with which to kills and oppress, over "butter" with which to feed and improve the lives of people, President Dwight Eisenhower warned about the "military industrial complex" and how it dominates the political landscape.

In April 1953, three months after he took office, retired five-star general and Supreme Allied Commander President Dwight Eisenhower addressed the American Society of Newspaper Editors in what would become known as his "Chance for Peace" speech: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

Guns and butter — the quintessential debate — indeed. "This world in arms is not spending money alone," he continued. "It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."

So, the United States remained embarked on the road of constant war and conflict, constant weapons consumption, death, injury, wounded warriors for a wasted cause.

Sept. 11, 2001, sparked an orgy of war and anti-Islamic rage which expressed itself in war and destruction, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, the fulfillment of Eisenhower's warning. Only in Afghanistan it was a waste made apparent as the last major-general, the U.S. superpower commander slinked out of Kabul airport under cover of darkness, sounding retreat, defeat.

The cost? A nation's pride. Upwards of $2 trillion in cash. Left behind? Billions of dollars, worth of armored vehicles, helicopters, ammunition, the stuff of war.

Might the people of this country have chosen instead, to eradicate poverty and eliminate curable illnesses, and house the people, and employ the people, we would all be better off. But one of the personality quirks of white folks, which keeps them perpetually at war, is their resentment of any prosperity among non-white folks — hatred.

White folks especially have no desire to ever see anything prosperous attain to the benefit of their Black

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